The same weekend a DUI crash killed a teen, police say this man gave alcohol to minors
Police arrested a 22-year-old man they believe supplied alcohol to several minors the night an alcohol-involved crash killed one teen and injured three others, according to a news release.
North Port police’s Traffic Homicide Unit arrested Damien Chanfrante, 22, on a warrant Wednesday. He faces eight counts of supplying alcohol to minors and was taken to the Sarasota County jail.
On Saturday, a Toyota SUV carrying 13 people inside and on the roof crashed and overturned on Joewood Circle in North Port after police said the driver didn’t navigate a turn in the road.
One of the passengers, a 17-year-old girl, was thrown from the vehicle. She died at the scene of the crash, police said. Three other passengers, ages 19, 17 and 13, were injured.
Investigators believe the 19-year-old driver of the vehicle, Stephanie G. Evrard, was under the influence of alcohol at the time, according to a police news release. She faces charges of DUI manslaughter and DUI with injury in connection with the crash.
Since Jan. 1, North Port police said their DUI arrests are up more than 200 percent.
“We have a renewed effort to keep drunk drivers off our roadways. We are also working to educate and enforce underage alcohol possession and underage drinking and driving. Along with our enforcement and education efforts, we ask that parents continue to educate their teens and that our community members make responsible decisions to not drink and drive, as we have a zero-tolerance policy on those that do,” North Port police said in a Facebook post announcing Chanfrante’s arrest.